17 Statement by Samuel Mumbengegwi During the Bikita West by-election, the then Minister of Education told villagers that ZANU PF would find out from voting registers how people had voted. He went on to say: “We will not be fooled. We will be able to find out who our enemies are and we will ruthlessly deal with them. We want to cleanse this area of all anti-ZANU PF elements. Chiefs and headmen were warned that they would lose all their privileges unless they organised people in their areas to vote for ZANU PF. Teachers, civil servants and nurses were told they would be sacked if they supported the MDC. (Source: Martin Meredith Mugabe Power and Plunder in Zimbabwe p 215). Statement by Patrick Chinamasa The Justice Minister said in September 2003 “A party that seeks to subjugate national interests to foreign powers and interests is a traitor and should be treated as such”. (Source: The Herald, 4 September 2003) Statement by Nathan Shamuyarira In June 2003, he said: “Foreign powers especially Britain and America, and their Zimbabwe puppets can not and will not change that (the people’s election of Mugabe as president). The time has now come for showdown with the MDC. Their activities can no longer be tolerated. They must be confronted and taught the lesson that Zimbabwe is a sovereign nation.” (Source: The Herald, 2 June 2003) Statement by Minister Sidney Sekeremayi In May 2000, Sekeremayi who was then the Minister of State Security, commended white farmers and farm workers for attending the ZANU PF rally, but he said he hoped the surrender of the t-shirts showed they really meant they had left the MDC. “I would want to hope that they are telling the truth and that even their workers are telling the truth. If not, the truth will always come out.” “After the votes we will see who has been cheating us and we will deal with each other.” (Source: Daily News 22 May 2000.) Statement by Abednico Ncube, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs In July 2004 the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abednico Ncube, told villagers in Matabeleland that maize “will be available only to those who dump the opposition and work with ZANU-PF”. The party would “start feeding its children before turning to those of the MDC”. Their words condemn them: The language of violence, intolerance and despotism in Zimbabwe.